Paxton stole a thousand-dollar pen from another lawyer in the Collin County Courthouse. The victim claimed that the pen had sentimental value.
Paxton Stole A $1,000 Pen From Another Lawyer. According to the Dallas Morning News, “In the great pen caper, Texas’ incoming Attorney General Ken Paxton drew a Blanc. It happened last year at a Collin County courthouse, where lawyer Joe Joplin rushed through the security stop, needing to get to a hearing. A few hours later, he realized he’d left a tray of three pens at the metal detector. One was a gift from his wife — a $1,000 Montblanc[...] Joplin said he’s not into fancy pens, but it had sentimental value. He asked about security cameras and whether he might view the tape. The deputies were unable to help. Joplin, frustrated and a bit frightened of telling his wife, wrote to an old friend, ‘just to vent.’ The boyhood pal was Collin County Sheriff Terry Box. In an Aug. 14, 2013, email, Joplin recounted the details. ‘The loss of my pen is my responsibility,’ he wrote, but he also thought a lost and found procedure might be instituted. Box is a sheriff who likes to see lost items returned. He ordered up the videotape. On the security video, the sheriff said he saw several people go through the machine after Joplin. And then he recognized the guy who picked up the pens — state Sen. Ken Paxton of McKinney. ‘It looked like he took a pen and put it in his pocket out of the tray,’ Box said. He asked a deputy to call Paxton and see whether he had it. He looked. He did. A day or so later, Paxton gave the pricey rollerball pen to a deputy to return to Joplin, the sheriff said.” [Dallas Morning News, 11/17/24]